SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Ask any player or coach at SMU when their season took a turn for the better last year, and they’ll point to the third game of the year.
SMU lost to BYU at home, but in that game — and the bye week that followed — the Mustangs sorted out their quarterback situation and settled on Kevin Jennings as the starter. That’s when their defense started to make some plays and shape into one of the best in the ACC.
Three games into the 2024 season with a 2-1 record, SMU had overcome adversity and laid the foundation for what would become a historic season and a run to both the ACC title game and College Football Playoff.
But three games into 2025, it’s unclear whether the Mustangs have done the same — or are more lost than when the season began.
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SMU (2-1) beat Missouri State (1-2) on the road 28-10 Saturday afternoon, but for most of the first half, the Mustangs were on upset watch.
SMU trailed 10-0 late in the first half to a team that has only been an FBS program for three weeks. It started the game with two turnovers and a missed field goal on its first three drives. It took a narrow lead at halftime thanks to two rushing touchdowns on the team’s final two drives of the half. The SMU defense allowed the offense to eventually pull away, but it was a sloppy win all-around.
“We were running basic plays and not blocking the defensive tackle or not blocking the defensive end. Just a lot of really uncharacteristic, poor execution,” SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said. “First two drives, it was turnovers. After that, it was penalties. We just kind of kept getting in our own way.”
Many questioned why the Mustangs even traveled to Springfield in the first place for a game where they had more to lose than to gain. SMU officials said a combination of Vanderbilt canceling its nonconference series and North Texas moving to the American Conference to make their series a conference game in 2023 and cancel future nonconference games led to this unexpected series with Missouri State. The Mustangs had to travel to Springfield this year and will host Missouri State next year.
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Heading into the week, it was seen as a possible confidence-building game after the loss to Baylor last week. But after the rocky start, SMU has yet to play a complete game. With a rivalry game against TCU looming and ACC play beginning after that, SMU’s play thus far doesn’t breed much confidence when it comes to matchups against more challenging opponents.
“As far as us winning today, we’re happy with that,” SMU running back TJ Harden said. “But there’s a lot of stuff for us to fix. From here on out, the next nine games are going to be tough opponents.”
SMU has demonstrated issues in all three phases of the game, and there hasn’t been a game yet where all three have been at their best simultaneously.
Its offense, which looked like a juggernaut in the 48-45 loss to Baylor last week, was kept off the board for more than 26 minutes Saturday. Jennings, Romello Brinson and other key contributors continue to make critical mistakes. While Harden had another multi-score game and RJ Maryland finally got on the board, SMU needs more consistency from that group.
On defense, SMU looks to be going through a rebuild, as expected. The Mustangs returned just one player from last year’s defense who started all 14 games: Isaiah Nwokobia. Its defense looked better against Missouri State than it did against Baylor, making three timely interceptions and shutting down the Bears after the rough start. But it’s still far from the group led by Elijah Roberts and Kobe Wilson that was an ACC-best last year. The Mustangs have also been playing without their two starting linebackers Alexander Kilgore and Zakye Barker. Fellow linebacker Kyle Ferm was injured during Saturday’s game as well.
Finally, on special teams, SMU has missed its last four field goal attempts, and two different kickers have tried. The Mustangs lost trust in their preseason All-ACC, three-year starter Collin Rogers and have turned to redshirt freshman Sam Keltner, who never attempted a collegiate field goal or extra point before Saturday.
And overall, SMU has looked undisciplined. It committed 12 penalties for 130 yards Saturday.
“It was a complete flag fest,” Lashlee said. “I don’t expect that. It’s not acceptable. There’s no excuse for it. Every now and then you’re going to get a hustle penalty. But to not snap the ball or not line up on the ball on a formation and get a long run called back, that’s inexcusable.”
To be fair, SMU didn’t look like a team destined for the College Football Playoff three games in last season. But that third game was a turning point.
Set to face TCU on the road next week and a slate of ACC opponents after that, the next stretch ahead will tell whether Saturday’s concerning first half was the wake-up call the Mustangs needed — if somehow the Baylor loss wasn’t — or a sign they are not the team they were a year ago.
“We’ve got to be a lot better next week, but we got a win, and we’re excited to go home with a win, ” Lashlee said.
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